Making It Through Monday

Today has been a great Monday. My sister, Winnie, spent the night last night and helped me pack for a few hours. It was mostly going through old "treasure boxes" and throwing away or donating things that I have lost some of my attachment to. It wasn't much but it was a start and I felt very accomplished. Plus we had a good time giggling and sniffing scratch and sniff stickers from my sticker book from kindergarten. Yes, they still worked. ;)

I slept in this morning, which was wonderful. After I showered and got ready, I took Winnie home and then went to eat lunch with too sweet ladies. I came home and spent some time with T before he had to go back to work. He got home at 8am from a 12 hour shift and had to be back to work 4p-midnight. What a day! I am so thankful for my sweetheart and all that he does. I decided to go to the pool to relax for a little while before hitting the to do list. Nothing sounded good for dinner so I ordered pizza from a pizza store, Hungry Howie's, within walking distance and walked to pick it up. I got the Howie Maui with cajun crust... oh my word. Delicious!

Things on my to do list for tonight...
- Pack up all DVDs.
- Pack up all books.
- Pack up all closets.
- Spend time with lady and coach
- Work out
- Wash 3 loads of laundry: Jeans, darks and reds

This may not sound like a whole lot but considering how many DVDs we have and how many books I have, it is a rather large portion of our possessions. Our Disney DVD collection has grown significantly in the last few months and I will be doing an update on that soon, so be looking for it! One day I will own all Disney movies. ;) Ok, maybe not. But a girl can dream. We have actually been Netflixing the movies we have not seen and marked several off the list of ones to buy some day. Who knew that there would be a Disney movie I wouldn't like. Ha.


What is helping you make it through Monday? Anything significant on your to do lists?

Where did the time go?

Once again, I went a week without blogging. I sat down wanting to update but feeling like I didn't know where to start. I decided to catch up on my blog reading first and found my inspiration. Ashley is hosting a 7 things party - so I am joining in!
7 things about Ashley - right here, right now.

1) I miss my mom. She is out of town for Spring Break with our church's middle school choir. I can't wait for Common Ground's homecoming concert on Sunday.

2) I have a seriously sick hubby right now. T rarely gets sick (unlike me!). The following might be TMI but I don't know how else to explain and document what has happened without these details. It started as gas(burping) on Thursday evening. It slowly progressed to diarrhea and last night he started throwing up on the way to his parents' house. Over the last few days his stomach has slowly swollen, obviously bloated and hard, sensitive to the touch. I went to work this morning because he insisted that the didn't need to go to the doctor. I got a text message from his mom asking me to please bring him into her clinic at 2pm so I left work early(thank goodness for a somewhat an understanding boss). They ran blood work and did a stomach x-ray but they didn't see anything unusual. He has lost almost 10 lbs from his normal average weight. So they sent us home with 3 prescriptions to be filled to treat the gas, diarrhea and vomiting. They said if the swelling doesn't go down after he has been on the medicines for a little while, then we will go from there. He is a pitiful patient and absolutely does not like the fact that he is on an all clear liquids diet. Poor T-baby. :(

3) I have serious senioritis. I am ready to get my 2 degrees and find a full-time job. This whole working 35-40 hours a week AND being in school thing is for the birds. ;)

4) It is Spring Break and I decided to throw off my work schedule. Instead of closing at work every night as per usual, I am working 11-7. Not sure if I like this(even though I was only there for 2 hours of my shift today). The morning crew is very different from the night crew and not in a good way. I am still looking forward to getting home before 11pm every night this week though.

5) We did SO good on the eat from the pantry challenge in January but I have totally gone off from that. I am determined to do better and finish March off by spending less on groceries. I desperately need to find time to catch up on all of my coupons. It's lost somewhere in my long, long to do list.

6) I was supposed to go on a Spring Break weekend trip with some of my girl friends from church to see one of my dearest friends, Savannah, at school. She goes to Pensacola Christian College in Florida. They don't get a spring break so it has worked out in years past to go visit her on the last weekend of our spring break. BUT this year their Bible Conference is that weekend. So no trip. :( Instead, I got to take the money we had put aside for my trip to go clothes shopping. It helped make the situation a little better. ;) I was SO excited to find clothes that made me feel comfortable and adult. At 22, I still want to be in style and fashionable but apparently I have a different definition of modesty than most clothes designers. When I have money to shop, I can never find clothes that I like, make me feel good about my body and are MODEST. Anyone else have this problem? I think I might dedicate a whole different post to this. ;)

7) I feel completely guilty eating food when T can't have any. So here it is 9pm and I have not eaten dinner yet. Oops. I guess I need to go fix this problem.

Sorry it is nothing in-depth or insightful right now. Too many things swirling around in my mind, I guess.
Since I am school free, hopefully I can get back into my blogging swing. Is it weird to miss blogging?

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Coupon Explosion/To-Do Lists

I have been leaving my coupons in the inserts to see if I prefer organizing them that way. Up until now, it has worked well because I have been using the coupons in limited quantities. But since I will be hitting up Brookshires this week and Kroger is having their game day mega deal, I cut out all of my grocery coupons and will be sorting them my type.
I will spare you the pictures but let's just say, my coffee table took the brunt of the explosion. ;)
I have today and tomorrow off of work. While I would have rather been working(read: making money), I definitely have some things on my to do list to get done over the next few days.
- Cut Coupons
- Organize Coupons
- Shop (til I drop) at Brookshires - preferably before the shelves get wiped out
- Study for Architectural Design 2 test (Wednesday)
- Study for Elementary Surveying test (Thursday)
- Chapter 1 exercises and questions for Revit (by Thursday)
- Give Lady and Coach a bath for their Trip to Honey's house
- Wash/put away all laundry
- Clean out/vacuum car
- pack for Disney World!!
- Work Thursday 2-10:30pm, T working 12-8am
- Work Friday 2-10:30pm, T working 12-8am
- Work Saturday 1-10:30pm, T working 12-8am
- Sunday - Church, Clegg family lunch, Chi Alpha Practice
- And because I love coming home to a spotless apartment:
     * Mop/Sweep all floors
     * Clean bathrooms
     * Clean kitchen and leave the dishwasher EMPTY (I have no problem loading it, but I hate unloading it for some reason. I always end up leaving the clean dishes in there until I need something specific or I have enough dirty dishes to make it worth re-loading. Just keeping it real!)
     * Take apart our old TV shelf (Thank you whoever put a perfectly great entertainment center out on the side of the road. We got a "new" entertainment center and I got my first "drive by" experience.)
    
I am sure there is more that will added to that but I am so distracted thinking about what needs to be done that I can't concentrate. ;) Ha.
P.S. now that I am back to spending hours a day in front of a computer, give me something to make the hours pass by. If I don't read your blog, let me know! I have plenty of time to hop on over. If I do, give me something lovely to read! ;o)

Pantry Challenge

Somethings have come up and/or changed, so in order for us to make our Disney trip happen in February, I am taking on a challenge.

Through couponing, I have been able to make a very little "stockpile" of sorts in my pantry, freezer, and fridge. I did an inventory of what we have a few nights ago and I came up with 26-28 different meals. Most of these include side of veggies and/or bread and are large enough for leftovers. This does not include 3 "meals for 2" frozen veggie dinners I have, frozen burritos, canned soup or any sandwiches. I excluded these because those are what I consider to be our fall back plans or quick fixes.
I am challenging myself to cook using what we already have, only buying milk, bread and other perishables. I know that this would completely deplete my stash and I don't want to find myself having to do serious grocery shopping at some point in February, so T and I decided on a compromise. I get $100 for the month of January to buy our perishables and then use the rest for couponing and sale shopping only. If it isn't on sale or if I don't have coupons for it, I won't buy it. We will see how we do with this. I was totally shocked once I sat down and looked at all the different meals I could make with what we have on hand. I had NO idea we had that much food stocked up. And T was shocked too. ;) He always says, "Well, what is there to eat?", never saying we don't have anything but certainly making it sound that way. He couldn't believe how many meals I came up with. He asked if I really had the groceries to make all of that on hand. As if I would make something like that up. Ha.
We work on a ridiculously limited budget anyway and I know if we can do this it will save us so much money. Think of how much you would save if you did it? Want to see others who are participating? Check out Money Saving Mom and Life as Mom!

My Baking Day Success

If you have ever seen MckMama's Not Me Mondays, you know they can be quite comical. I have never participated but I have enjoyed reading them on occasion.
Yesterday could have been a Not Me Wednesday. Seriously. Need a TINY example of the many things I most certainly didn't do? Here is one of my facebook status updates from yesterday.

Ashley Clegg Spence survived the hike to and from Brookshires in comical form. I DID NOT go through a hole in the fence to cut off a 1/4 mile each way. I DID NOT try to get my hair out of my face(thank you, wind) and smack myself in the head with a bag of groceries. And I most certainly DID NOT trip on my shoe lace and almost fall flat on my face on the Old Canton Rd sidewalk. =)

Yes, ladies. I slept until 9-something. Woke up, made a detailed list of what all I wanted to make and then comprised a grocery list. Let me just add that T's classes were not canceled and he had to work so he had the car. Being the genius that I am, deciding to do a baking day the night before said baking day, I didn't plan it out very well. I needed a quite a few things. So I put my Red Beans and Rice on in the crockpot and walked over a mile to Brookshires, our closest grocery store. The walk there was a piece of cake. Coming back with multiple bags of groceries... not so much.

Over all, it was a rather successful baking day.
I made:
Red Beans and Rice (1 full meal and lunches)
Corn Bread Muffins
Chicken and Dumplins (4 lunches)
One loaf Sourdough Bread
4 dozen milk chocolate and peanut butter swirl cookies
1 block white chocolate macadamia nut toffee
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls (14 rolls)
and 1 bunt cake Amish friendship bread

Not too bad for a rather spur of the moment baking day. There was so much more that I wanted to do but I can't do much with our little freezer. One day I WILL have a deep freezer or some sort of additional freezer space. ;)

We had some of the red beans and rice for dinner with some corn bread muffins before heading to church. When I got home from choir I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, washed all dishes that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher and then thoroughly cleaned my kitchen. It was so nice to go to bed with it completely clean. I try to have all the dishes done at night but lately, with getting home from work after 11pm, it hasn't really been happening. =) Just keeping it real.

I plan on having another baking day soon. It was so much easier to go ahead and do a lot at once rather than in small bits and pieces.

Thank you all for your encouraging comments on my last post. It's nice to know there are actually people who understand and care. I appreciate it!
It might be a couple more days before I can post. And look back Monday for My Disney Resort Christmas Tour - Part 2!

8 days off

Today was the last day of our current homestand at work. Then next homestand is 10 days long, starting on a week from tomorrow. However, I have Monday, Wednesday and Saturday off. So I have 8 days off in a row.
On one hand, I am looking forward to it. On the other hand, I have a feeling that I am going to get bored out of my mind. I am going to try to use that time to get a few things straightened out here around the apartment.

~ I only have one room "finished" in the entire apartment, the guest bathroom which is also known as Trevor's "man bathroom". This is the bathroom that Trevor wanted to make a pirate bathroom but ended up turning into a Nautical themed bathroom. I like the way it turned out. Keep watching for pictures in the next couple of days.

~ I absolutely love the work of Thomas Kinkade. Seeing as how it will be a very long time, if ever, that I can actually affort one of his paintings, I have been putting together and glueing some puzzles of his paintings. I have 3 done so far and I have 5 or so left to complete. I am not sure where I am going to hang them or what I am going to do with them... But I can guarantee you that they will be used to fill up some wall space. I HATE white walls. Period. And, of course, living in an apartment we have nothing but white walls. I am sure I will put them to use somewhere. :)

~ I need to find some piece to a twin size bed frame in order to get the guest bedroom in order. My friend, Brooke, is coming in 3 weeks to stay with us and I WILL have it all in order by then. Somehow in the move, we lost two of the four brackets that connect the bed springs/frame to the head board and foot board. I am going to hunt around at some thrift stores to try and find the pieces that we need.

~ I need to make a shower curtain for the master bathroom or try an find one.I want a lovely adult bathroom. :) I want something that incorporates certain colors but I don't want a pattern that is really busy. And seeing as how the bathroom is small (way smaller than the guest bathroom, I need to find something that is going to make the room look larger... not something that will make it look smaller and "swollow" the whole room.

~ I have several Disney postcards that are replicas of some of the famous Disney paintings. I want them to go on the wall around my desk but I am not sure if I am going to frame them or find something else to do with them. I have a castle painting that is going to be hung on the wall and I want the photos to be arranged around the painting. Any suggestions?

~ I think I might go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow. I just LOVE Hobby Lobby. :)

I will be posting pictures and updates of what I get accomplished. Maybe that will motivate me to get everything done quickly. :o)

Today's To-Do List

I actually did pretty well with yesterday's to-do list. I think there were only 2 things I wasn't able to do. I didn't have time to cut out my coupons but I did make a GREAT CVS run. I also never found time for reading. :( But no worries, tonight I will definitely be able to find at least a little bit of time to read.
Today's To-Do List:
~ Ch. 18 questions for CAD
~ Ch. 18 exercises for CAD
~ Ch. 18 drawing problems
~ Ch. 5 (maybe 6) of GIS
~ Vacuum the apartment
~ Complete the guest bathroom
~ Empty at least 3 boxes
~ Organize clothes in Master Bedroom Dresser
~ Take a Bubble bath (this is probably when I will accomplish my reading time)
~ Do some form of workout

I guess I should be getting off of here to get some of the other things on this list done. But first, a recap of my CVS trip. :)

First Transaction:
Febreeze Air Effects $3.29 on sale for $3
Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit $11.99 on sale for $9

Used $10 in ECBs(that were going to expire at the end of yesterday)
Paid $2.14 OOP
Received $5 ECBs back


Second Transaction:
(2) Dawn Dish Washing Liquid $1.99 each on sale 2/$2
Gillette Fusion Razor $9.99 on sale for $7.99

Used (2)$0.25 coupons on the Dawn
$4 coupon on the razor
$5 ECBs
Paid $0.84 OOP
Received $5 ECBs back

Total paid OOP: $2.94
Total Saved: $26.76

Still exhausted... and slightly sunburnt.

I have tried going to bed earlier but I find that I just lay in bed for hours. I am soo tired but can't seem to sleep when I should be sleeping. Any suggestions?

Yesterday, after church and lunch, Lisa, Savanna and Katie all came over to the apartment. We hung out at the pool and then watched a ridiculously cheesy movie favorite of mine (The Biggest Fan) and I think it is now Katie's favorite movie. We listened to 90's music, mostly 90's pop from when we were younger. Lots of laughs. We hung out for a while before they left.

Side note: I got burnt. One spot on my leg and on my chest. Yup, guess I missed the sunscreen in a few places. :o) I was planning on laying out today but we will see how that goes. I don't like burning/tanning on top of a burn. ouch.

To Do list for today:
__ finish chapter 4 exercises for my GIS class.
__ Chapter 17 exercises and chapter problems for CAD
__ make a CVS run
__ cut out coupons from yesterday and get them organized
__ Possibly make a Brookshire's run (SO nice having it literally around the corner from home)
__ Empty some more boxes
__ Find out the code for the Fitness Center and put the place to good use
__ Find at least 30 minutes to read today
__ Grill hamburgers tonight with Hubby

That's all I can think of for now. :)

Yes, I should be asleep

I know. But I am not one bit tired. Today I have(and in some cases we)...
- slept in late =)
- packed up the rest of our apartment,
- loaded Trevor's dad's truck,
- compiled all of the things going in the rental car with us tomorrow,
- throw away and donated more stuff than I knew we even had,
- scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom from top to bottom leaving it cleaner than it has probably been in years... (I wanted to leave it cleaner than we found it)
- downloaded some digital scrapbooking kits (my slight obsession)
- stayed up until almost 2am knowing I have to get up at 6 to shower and get ready to go pick up our rental car.

Tomorrow:
- pick up rental car at 8am
- Use coupons for free chicken biscuits at Chickfila
- move everything out of the apartment
- vacuum and do final cleaning
- check out of the apartment by 11am
- sign over my pathfinder to karsforkids.org between 10 and 10:30am
- hit the road for HOME
- Eat McAlister's somewhere along the way - we have missed this SOOO much. Orlando has nothing even remotely close to a McAlister's.
- Get to my parent's house
- kiss all the little guys goodnight
- Use the Echo to take rental car to the airport
- Get some sleep :)

As you can see, a lot has been accomplished...
But much is left to be done.

Now I am going to try my best to get some sleep.
Goodnight!

Making Progress

I have already been able to "check off" some things on my list! Ok... So maybe not a whole thing but atleast adding on to the things that are supposed to be done multiple times. And I've added the list to the left-hand column so that I can update it and see it more regularly.

I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow. I enjoy my days off. However, the pass by WAY too quickly. I never seem to have enough hours on those day whereas the hours on days that I work seem to last forever. Is it bad that I count down to next Sunday when Tuesday is just beginning? I always count down to the next day that we have off. Oh well. It makes the time pass quickly.

There is also a new list coming... Trevor and I are making a list off all the things we want to do, places we want to go and restaurants we want to eat at while we are here at Disney. The last 3 months have flown by. And I have no doubt in my mind that the next four will pass just as quickly. I am reallllllly looking forward to being here for Christmas but it will be strange at the same time. It will be the first holiday away from either of our families... and no Christmas tree because all of our stuff is back in MS. But it should be fun none the less.

Well, I am off to get some sleep before work tomorrow. :)

So I've been inspired... :)

At work, a lady was talking about her 101 in 1001. I had no clue what she was talking about and I didn't get a chance to ask her because I got rotated to a different spot. However, I come home to find that several people had updated their blogs and were also referring to the 101 in 1001. So I found out some more information and I've decided to take on the task as well. I have always been the type of person who enjoys lists and tasks. I guess I just like seeing my progress and being able to put a check next to something.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.




So here we go... :)


Start date: 8/24/2008
End date: 5/11/2011